Kennewick Man ‘could have been Asian’

Researchers spent 16 days poring over Kennewick Man — the skeleton found on the bank of the Columbia River in 1996 — in two visits to Seattle’s Burke Museum in 2005 and 2006, after a court ruling permitting the study.

Since then, they’ve said little about what they’ve learned. A new, 688-page, peer-reviewed book, “Kennewick Man: The Scientific Investigation of an Ancient American Skeleton,” changes that. Texas A&M University Press is scheduled to publish the book in September.

This clay facial reconstruction of Kennewick Man was carefully sculpted around the morphological features of his skull, and lends a deeper understanding of what he may have looked like nearly 9,000 years ago.

This clay facial reconstruction of Kennewick Man was carefully sculpted around the morphological features of his skull, and lends a deeper understanding of what he may have looked like nearly 9,000 years ago.

Photo: Brittney Tatchell / Smithsonian Institution

Image 2 of 8

The morphology of the skull and long bones led National Museum of Natural History researcher Douglas Owsley and his colleagues to conclude that Kennewick Man likely shared ancestors with Asian coastal groups, including deep connections with the predecessors of contemporary Polynesians. less

The morphology of the skull and long bones led National Museum of Natural History researcher Douglas Owsley and his colleagues to conclude that Kennewick Man likely shared ancestors with Asian coastal groups, ... more

Photo: Chip Clark / Smithsonian Institution

Image 3 of 8

National Museum of Natural History forensic anthropologists Douglas Owsley and Kari Bruwelheide examine the ancient skeletal remains of Kennewick Man. They had access to the remains over 16 days in 2005 and 2006. less

National Museum of Natural History forensic anthropologists Douglas Owsley and Kari Bruwelheide examine the ancient skeletal remains of Kennewick Man. They had access to the remains over 16 days in 2005 and ... more

The exceptionally well-preserved skeleton of Kennewick Man is represented by nearly 300 bones and bone fragments.

The exceptionally well-preserved skeleton of Kennewick Man is represented by nearly 300 bones and bone fragments.

Photo: Chip Clark / Smithsonian Institution

Image 7 of 8

A stone projectile point embedded in Kennewick Man’s right hip gave researchers the first clue that he belonged to an ancient human population. It spear point likely became lodged following an adversarial encounter. less

A stone projectile point embedded in Kennewick Man’s right hip gave researchers the first clue that he belonged to an ancient human population. It spear point likely became lodged following an adversarial ... more

Kennewick Man’s skull isn’t really like those of any current people, “but most closely resembles Pacific Rim populations such as the Ainu of Japan and Polynesians, reflecting deep roots in coastal Asian groups,” Smithsonian wrote.

“He could have been an Asian,” co-editor Richard Jantz, emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of Tennessee, told The Washington Post. “One of the things we always tend to do is underestimate the mobility of early people.”

He was 5 feet, 7 inches tall — big for the time — and 163 pounds, with ample muscles and a wide-bodied frame that helped him navigate the steppe-like habitat along the northwest coast of North America. He appears to have been right handed and adept at making stone tools and at using a spear thrower.

Kennewick Man suffered six broken ribs from blunt-force trauma to the chest and had a stone point from a spear lodged in his pelvis for multiple years during his lifetime.

He lived among such big game as deer, pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep but primarily ate fish and marine mammals, consistent with the lifestyle of someone traveling from the northern part of the continent down the coast to Washington.